Conversion of Solar Energy Using Fluorescent Collectors: Installation of a Test Collector to Deliver Several Watts Power

Summary

A 1 m² fluorescent collector has been built which, with Si solar cells, _js already capable of delivering 6 W at maximum insolation (1 kWm⁻²), and has the potential for output powers exceeding 20 W, when optimized according to presently known methods to increase the amount of sunlight absorbed. With GaAs or GaAlAs cells, the efficiency could be doubled. The results of outdoor measurements from this collector are supplemented by those from longer-term measurements of two smaller triangular collectors and a reference solar cell. These results show the importance of having solar cells which are intended for use in concentrated light, and the necessity of continued research on the interactions in dye-matrix systems. As an aid to the prediction of the performance of fluorescent collectors, continuous measurements of the solar spectrum have been carried out, and these results, compared with the measured collector output, are also presented here.